James F. Murray, Sr. PS #38: James F. Murray, Sr. PS #38

James F. Murray School, Sr., Public School No. 38
339 Stegman Parkway
Greenville

Named for James F. Murray, Sr., an attorney and tireless opponent of long-term Jersey City Mayor Frank Hague, the contemporary-style, three-story elementary school was built in 1953. The new public school was needed due to the increasing student population from the area's new housing, like the College Towers complex.

Located on the south side of Stegman Parkway between Kennedy Boulevard and Stegman Terrace, the site of Public School, No. 38 was formerly on the grounds of a greenhouse and market gardening operation during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The State of New Jersey acquired the property in the early 1920s to be part of the future campus of the Jersey City Normal School (now New Jersey City University). As the State’s plans for the Normal School were being finalized, it was realized that the Stegman Parkway lot wasn't necessary, and a mutually beneficial land swap with the City of Jersey City was negotiated.

On July 14, 1928, Mayor Hague and the city commission gave the State Board of Education a deed for the right-of-way at Bayview Avenue in exchange for the deed to the Stegman Parkway property. The deal gave the State a unified parcel for the Normal School campus. The City, however, did not rush to develop the property, and the lot remained vacant until the new school was built.

A memorial Jersey Journal article (September 30, 1952) for Murray entitled "Murray Was Consistent Foe of Hague" captures Murray's twenty-year political career. In the 1929 mayoralty race, Murray led the Fusion Ticket with the support of the local Republican organization and Independent Democrats. Murray's ticket lost by the narrowest margin in any challenge to unseat Hague. Murray, leader of the Tenth Ward branch of the Democratic Association of Jersey City, had hoped to become mayor. In 1937, Murray ran for governor. He campaigned as the "Roosevelt-Labor Anti-Hague" candidate and opposed Hague's choice and close friend, Senator A. Harry Moore.

In 1942, Governor Charles Edison appointed Murray to the office of the Hudson County register. Murray saw the position as an opportunity to clean out the "payroll drones" or sinecures in Hudson County.

After Hague "retired" from the mayoralty in 1947, Murray remained intent on removing Hague's supporters from City Hall. He joined the Freedom Ticket led by John V. Kenny, a former Hague ward leader. It challenged Hague's hand-chosen successor and nephew, Frank Hague Eggers, in the 1949 election. Kenny was elected mayor (1949-1953), and Murray became Commissioner of Parks.

Murray and Kenny, however, clashed over the proposed nomination of Murray's son (James F. Murray, Jr.) to the US 13th Congressional seat for Hudson County, vacated by Mary T. Norton in 1950, against Kenny's choice of Alfred D. Sieminski. Kenny retaliated by undermining Murray's authority as parks commissioner. Two years later, Kenny, seeking Murray Sr.'s support, agreed to name him Hudson County Registrar and his son Murray, Jr., president of the Jersey City tax board and state senator. Although Murray, Sr., died in 1952 before the 1953 municipal election, Kenny kept his bargain to endorse the younger Murray's candidacy as the Democratic NJ Senator from Hudson County (1954-1958). Kenny, who completed only one term as mayor in favor of local party leadership, also endorsed the naming of the new elementary school on Stegman Parkway for his political ally and nemesis. The cornerstone was set in place in April 1953.

James F. Murray, Jr.

Following in his father's footsteps, Murray, Jr. (1919-1965) continued in local politics. A graduate of Fordham University Law School (1942) and decorated World War II navy veteran, he broke with Kenny and joined the Victory Ticket in 1957. Murray joined with Charles S. Witkowski, Thomas Gangemi, and others attempting to defeat Kenny's candidates.

As an NJ senator, Murray put forth two projects that came to pass at the Jersey City waterfront. He proposed that the shuttered (1954) Ellis Island become an ethnic museum and a vehicular causeway be constructed between Ellis Island and Jersey City.

Murray adopted the "new" medium of television to get out his political message. He appeared on the "Voice of Victory" telecasts in 1957 to promote his work for the state. After the 1957 election in which he obtained the most votes, Murray, in a political maneuver, was bypassed for the mayoralty in favor of Witkowski (1957-1961). It was Jersey City's last election under the commission form of government, adopted in 1913 under the Walsh-Leavitt Act, in favor of the present mayor-city council form.

Murray became the director of the Department of Revenue and Finance under Witkowski and retained the post until the mayoralty of Gangemi (1961-1963). During his directorship, Murray contributed to the city's redevelopment with projects like the St. John's and Gregory apartments and homes at Country Village. He supported the revitalization of the entrance of the Holland Tunnel and the city's addition of Ferris High School and the Fine Arts Library at Five Corners.

Towards his goal to redevelop the city's waterfront, Murray supported land reclamation for industrial parks. His Liberty Industrial Park project was the forerunner of the future Liberty State Park. To explore his vision for the city's resources, he conducted a three-day symposium at Jersey City State College (now New Jersey City University) called Operation Rebirth (1959) and the city's first Trade Fair at the Jersey City Armory (1961).

In his video "Past Is Prologue: Jersey City, 1949, End of the Hague Era." https://vimeo.com/106156060, Joseph M. Murray examines the roles of his father and grandfather, James F. Murray, Jr. and James F. Murray, Sr., during the Hague Era.

"Chapter 197," Laws of New Jersey, 1927, Session Laws of American States and Territories, New Jersey: 382 (1920-1939, Fiche 69).
"Commission Murray's Rights Friday." Jersey Journal 30 September 1952.
"Ellis Island Proposal." New York Times 7 June 1955.
Karnoutsos, Carmela A. and Patrick Shalhoub. From Greenhouse to Campus: The Foundations of New Jersey City University. Jersey City, NJ: New Jersey City University, 2010.
"Kenny Announces Anti-Hague Slate." New York Times 18 May 1949.
"Kenny Cuts Power of Two City Heads." New York Times 6 December 1950.
"Kenny Is Beaten in 4 of 5 Races in Hudson Upset." New York Times 15 May 1957.
"Lay Cornerstone Today for New Murray School." Jersey Journal. 28 April 1953.
"Mayor Kenny Ends Feud with Murray." New York Times 28 February 1952.
"Murray Was Consistent Foe of Hague." Jersey Journal. 30 September 1952.
“Murray Collection.” Murray Family Archive. New Jersey Historical Society. Newark, NJ.
Murray, Joseph M. “Bosses & Reformers: Jersey City Victory Movement of 1957.” New Jersey History, Volume 103, Numbers 3-4 (Fall/Winter 1985).
_________. "James F. Murray, Sr., and James F. Murray, Jr." Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:JoeMurray88
_________. "Past Is Prologue: Jersey City, 1949, End of the Hague Era." https://vimeo.com/106156060